Fu Shanhe

Chapter 85: The Death in Progress

The battle went too smoothly and the enemy didn't even put up a decent resistance, which made Li Mu very embarrassed.

Judging from the actual situation on the battlefield, all the previous preparations were in vain.

What we have before us is not an army at all, they are just a group of farmers who were forced to fight.

It was purely due to lack of experience. If he had gone through a few more battles, he would have been able to see the enemy's weaknesses at a glance.

So when we met the enemy yesterday, the army just pushed forward and ended the battle.

The anger didn't last long, and a smile appeared on Li Mu's face.

For the winner, a few flaws in the process are no big deal.

It is not a fault to be cautious in using troops.

"Pass the order down, those who surrender will not be killed!"

Seeing the soldiers continuing to harvest heads, Li Mu immediately gave orders to stop them.

Most of these rebel soldiers in front of us are poor guys who were forced to get involved. There is no need to kill them.

Since the Battle of Yangzhou, he has had no shortage of credits.

Although military officers can be promoted quickly due to their military merits, there is a limit to their promotion.

Such things as achieving success overnight only existed when the country was conquering the world in the early years of its founding.

With the improvement of the system, officials are promoted step by step, and exceptional promotions are extremely rare.

If there were no restrictions, all positions in the army would be held by generals from the nine frontier families.

Those stationed on the border had to fight with the enemy every now and then. Even if the gains were small each time, the total amount accumulated over the years would be an astonishing number.

Obviously, this is impossible.

If you can get promotion if you have made contributions, then soon there will be an embarrassing situation where there is no more room for promotion and no more room for promotion.

For Li Mu personally, these military achievements are mainly to enrich his resume.

When job vacancies arise in the future and personnel appointments are discussed, recommenders can use these resumes as reasons.

"Captain Li, these people should be the troops with the weakest combat effectiveness among the rebels, right?"

Marquis Wuyang's words stumped Li Mu.

The rebels’ fighting power is a huge topic.

“Maybe it is!”

Li Mu answered with a little hesitation.

Reason told him that there is no worst in this world, only worse.

The situation is the same with the government troops. The powerful ones are really powerful, and the useless ones are really useless.

Strength and weakness are relative concepts, not absolute concepts.

Compared with the enemy troops in front of him, the soldiers under his command are all elite.

If they were pulled to the Liaodong front, they would instantly become lost in the crowd and might even be relatively weak.

There is still a long way to go before becoming a truly strong army, but Li Mu is not panicked at all.

Elite soldiers are formed through fighting. After practicing with the rebels a few times, they should be almost formed.

“Since the rebels have been defeated, we can take back Xinghua City.

Our contribution is almost enough, Gaoyou Prefecture must be left to the Beijing Camp to recover.

In the subsequent battles heading south, we only need to attack Taizhou, and the main battlefield will be left to the Beijing Camp.

Your Majesty, you are still brooding over the defeat in Liaodong and will definitely restart the expedition against Liaodong.

I am already old and have no interest in fame, wealth or power, so I don't want to join in the fun.

The future belongs to you young people. If you are interested in ennobling your wife and children, I can recommend you!"

Looking at the Marquis of Wuyang, who was less than forty years old, Li Mu really didn't know how he was related to old age.

But Zang Zhuo was right. It was not easy to recover that damn place, Liaodong.

With Marquis Wuyang's level, going to Liaodong to lead the army would simply be a waste of his life.

No matter how much power is delegated, it will be useless because the generals in Liaodong are a bunch of scumbags. Anyone who goes there will be cheated to death.

The easiest way to recapture Liaodong is to spend money!
Emperor Tianyuan did a good job before. He spent a lot of money to form an elite army and sent it to Liaodong to fight a decisive battle with the Hu people.

Although it ended in failure, the price paid by the Hu people was still heavy.

Just look at the enemy's reaction after the war.

According to common sense, after a great victory, one should pursue the victory and expand the results as much as possible.

However, instead of provoking a full-scale war, the Northern Hu went about annexing the grassland tribes.

It is obvious that the casualties among the soldiers are not small and they need to be reinforced urgently.

If it works, continue. As long as you can cause heavy casualties to the enemy, failure will also have strategic value.

The one who wins first doesn’t count as winning; the one who wins in the end is the winner.

When the Central Plains dynasty fights against the grassland peoples, the best way to play is a war of attrition.

Beat in spring and beat in summer.

Finish the fight in the fall and then the fight in the winter.

We are in a state of war all year round, and it won't take a few years to drag the enemy to death.

There are plenty of ready-made examples in history books of theoretical knowledge, but unfortunately there are only a few dynasties that can continue to spend money.

"Thank you for your advice, Lord. I am young and have a lot to learn.

What the Nine Fronts need are veterans from the battlefield, so I won’t go over and cause trouble! "

Li Mu refused decisively.

He is a single guy, he doesn't even have a wife and children, so how can he talk about ennobling his wife and children?

Not only did he not want to go to the Liaodong front, he had no interest in the entire Nine Frontiers.

There are many military families in the border army, and he used to be an outsider.

It is lucky not to be ostracized to death.

To achieve meritorious service is simply a dream.

Just the military pay of the soldiers under one's command is enough to make a man worry to death.

Rather than living in poverty, it is better to stay in the country and enjoy life.

The overall situation of the court is something that the emperor and the bigwigs in the court need to consider.

For a military general, unless he reaches the top, he will have no say in strategy.

……

Wen family camp.

"General, urgent news from Xinghua!"

"Yesterday, five generals led their troops to fight the enemy, but unfortunately they suffered a crushing defeat and are now unknown whether they are alive or dead.

The enemy's front is heading straight for Xinghua County. The defenders in the city are all old and weak, and they may not be able to stop them..."

"boom!"

Without waiting for the young officer to finish reading the letter, Wen Feiyang slapped the table.

“Who told that idiot to send out troops to fight the enemy?

I have repeatedly ordered him to defend Xinghua County, and that's how he defended it!"

Faced with the angry coach, the generals lowered their heads one after another, not daring to meet his murderous gaze.

After so long since he started the rebellion, this was the first time that Wen Feiyang had the intention to kill his own family.

From a military perspective, Xinghua County is a piece of chicken ribs, but this piece of chicken ribs was lost at the wrong time.

If Xinghua falls ahead of time, it would be a dream to want to annihilate the troops of the Wucheng Bingmasi within Xinghua.

The plan of first attacking the south and then the north and defeating the rebel army one by one failed, and the situation of the Wen family army suddenly became dangerous.

"General, things have come to this point, and cursing will not help.

We will discuss Jianshao’s question later.

The most urgent task is to quickly adjust the combat strategy.

The Xinghua rebel army was defeated yesterday. Judging from the time, the enemy has almost occupied Xinghua County.

Even if we rush over immediately, the enemy is defending the city and it will be difficult to break through in a short time.

Strategically, we are being attacked from both north and south by the government troops. This has become a reality, so we must prepare for the worst."

Wen Feiyang on the side tried to persuade him. He was also very angry about Wen Jianshao's foolish fight.

However, the person involved is currently missing and there is no chance to punish him.

"Pass the order down, the army will turn around and go back to fight a decisive battle with the Beijing camp!
As for the enemy forces of Wucheng Bingmasi, the mess in Xinghua County should be able to hold them back for two days, so just ignore them for now.

If we are fast enough and defeat the Beijing camp before they can escape, we can still achieve our strategic goal!"

No matter whether others believe it or not, as the head coach, Wen Feiyang believed it first.

Failure, the consequences are too terrible.

He couldn't bear it, the Wen family couldn't bear it, and the entire rebel army couldn't bear it.

……

Taizhou City.

"Brother, stop drinking!"

Huang Renliang frowned and advised.

Since the defeat in Yangzhou, Huang Renlong, unable to withstand the blow, lost his former fighting spirit and spent his days drunken and dreaming in the city.

The commander-in-chief has become corrupt, and the generals under him have followed suit, living a life of luxury and debauchery.

"Brother, come and have a drink together."

“It is only today that I, your brother, know what life is!

In the past, we followed the Zong family around, but what a miserable life we ​​lived.

After I started the rebellion, I tried my best to live up to the Zong family, but in the end I was still betrayed by that bastard named Zong.

This is Zong Guangtai’s wife and his concubine. Don’t you think they are very beautiful?

Whoever you like is yours.

We are all brothers, what's mine is yours, don't be polite to Big Brother!"

Huang Renlong said with a smile.

As a salt smuggler, the last thing he lacks is ruthlessness.

The first thing he did after returning to Taizhou was to wipe out the entire Zong family, leaving only a group of wives and daughters for his sexual pleasure.

"Brother, the government troops are coming.

If we continue to degenerate like this, our good days will be over!"

Huang Renliang said helplessly.

He is a sex-hungry man, so naturally he won't be polite to his elder brother in this regard.

He had tasted all these women in private, and not just once.

After experiencing the novelty, he began to value his life more.

Only by living can you have the opportunity to play with more beautiful women.

If you lose your life, the wonderful life you have now will belong to someone else.

"Nonsense, how could the government troops be so fast!
The city walls of Taizhou are strong, and the few government troops in Yangzhou city are simply not enough.

The army of the Beijing camp is still in Gaoyou Prefecture, entangled with the Wen family, and will not be able to arrive for a while.

When the government troops from the south arrived in Zhenjiang, they could no longer move and became a mob.

You can enjoy yourselves with peace of mind. When the war begins, we will have to live a life of displacement again.

The good days we have now are getting shorter and shorter. It will be impossible to live like this in the future!"

It can be seen that Huang Renlong has already begun to consider retiring.

Originally a private salt dealer, his goal was to make more money and buy a few hundred acres of land when he returned home.

He got married and had children, and arranged for his son to study and take civil service exams so that he could become a member of the gentry group.

The unexpected change pushed him to the forefront and he became the leader of the rebel army.

However, ambitions that are forcibly irrigated are ultimately fragile.

After a failure, the nascent ambitions were instantly shattered.

“I’m not kidding you, the enemy is indeed approaching.

I sent people to verify it, and found that the defenders of Yangzhou were divided into two.

Some of them chose to go north, apparently wanting to retake Xinghua and attack the Wen family from both sides together with the Beijing Camp.

Another part is heading south, less than twenty miles away from us.

At the earliest tonight, at the latest tomorrow morning, the enemy will appear outside Taizhou city.

If we don't make preparations and wait for the enemy to attack us, it will be too late.

We have caused great harm to Taizhou in recent days, and the people in the city are now uneasy.

You have to make a decision quickly whether to leave or stay! "

Huang Renliang couldn't help but urge.

In fact, even if the government troops did not come, they would not be able to stay in Taizhou for long.

The days of living beyond one's means are not easy. No matter how rich Taizhou is, it cannot withstand the consumption of hundreds of thousands of people.

Burning down villages and forcibly recruiting people into the ranks certainly expanded the scale but also increased consumption.

When we fought in Yangzhou earlier, we relied on the financial and food support provided by the clan.

No matter how big the family business is, it cannot withstand such intensive consumption.

The main reason for the extermination of the Zong family, besides revenge, was that they could not produce more food.

The inventory has been consumed, and the court has recently been conducting strict inspections, so we can only purchase from the sea through merchants.

Not only is the price high, but the quantity is also very limited.

In order to solve the food problem, all the gentry and wealthy businessmen in Taizhou suffered without exception.

Even so, the forcibly requisitioned grain would not be consumed for long.

After all, people can eat half full when they are farming, and when there is a shortage of food, they can use wild vegetables and tree roots to make up the shortage.

Now that everyone has joined the rebellion, there will be no tomorrow. If you don't eat your fill, you will be at a great loss.

Having suffered a loss from a mutiny among soldiers, the Huang brothers were most afraid of a mutiny among their own soldiers and did not dare to withhold their food.

"Pass the order down, tell all the soldiers to prepare for battle, I want to meet the enemy!"

Huang Renlong said murderously.

The last loss was so unfair that deep down he was not convinced at all.

However, the walls of Yangzhou were strong and they had suffered heavy losses, so they were unable to retaliate.

The situation is different now. The enemy army is divided into two and is fighting on its home turf.

Even if we want to evacuate, we have to fight first before leaving.

He started a rebellion, but didn't achieve any outstanding results.

From now on, when I go out into the world, I am too embarrassed to introduce myself.

……

On the plain, among the chaotic ranks of government troops, there was a battle flag embroidered with the word "Rong".

The first time I led troops into battle, apart from the initial nervousness and curiosity, the rest was just boredom.

The rebels along the way ran away when they saw the government troops, and the villages and markets they passed by were in ruins, so there was no fun to be found.

"Commander-in-chief, we are almost at Taizhou. Should we continue to move forward?"

Commander Rong, who was dozing off in the carriage, suddenly woke up after hearing his companion's reminder.

After dawdling all the way, we unexpectedly reached the enemy's lair so quickly.

Just because the rebels have retreated doesn’t mean they will give up their lair.

I wanted to say no, but when I thought about how I was pretending to be, I couldn't bring myself to say no.

He doesn't know how to command troops and fight wars, but he has seen plays.

Military orders on the battlefield are as heavy as mountains. If you fail to complete an order, you will lose your head.

Although he has the protection of Concubine Rong, Marquis Wuyang is the emperor's uncle and has a much higher status than him.

In case Marquis Wuyang is unkind and kills him with a knife, it seems that he can handle it.

"Of course we have to keep moving forward. Marquis Wuyang has ordered us to recapture three counties. Do you want to disobey the military order?"

(End of this chapter)